Edson Barboza is too tough for his own good.
The UFC lightweight contender was dominated by rising star Kevin Lee in the UFC Fight Night 128 main event on Saturday night in Atlantic City, New Jersey, just months after getting ragdolled by current 155-pound champ Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Lee, a strong wrestler who missed weight Friday morning, took the Brazilian down early in the first round — and that was essentially the story of the fight. “The Motown Phenom” mauled Barboza from top control with vicious ground-and-pound, turning his face to mush. Lee did an excellent job of getting Barboza down and, of course, keeping him down. Barboza struggled to return to his feet — in the four rounds that preceded Lee’s fifth-round TKO win, once Lee got on top of Barboza, the fight basically stayed there until the round ended.
Lee also looked improved in the striking department, as well. Before eventually landing the inevitable takedown (or takedowns, plural) in each round, he landed a handful of shots on the feet. Keeping in mind how devastating of a striker Barboza is, that’s quite impressive. As he gets older and gains more experience, Lee is becoming more and more well-rounded.
This was Lee’s most impressive performance to date and the biggest win of his young career, especially coming off a title loss to Tony Ferguson last October and the death of his longtime coach, Robert Follis. Lee had a lot to deal with heading into the Barboza matchup and he passed the tough test with flying colors.
What was the highlight of the fight?
I have to give Barboza a little bit of love here. Lee did fantastic work, but the No. 4-ranked lightweight hung tough and gave it all he could. Not only did he show off his toughness against Lee, but he did have one moment in the third round that stood out above anything else.
After getting dominated for the first 10 minutes, a Barboza win seemed far fetched. But then he showed he had something — not much, but at least something — left in the tank when he landed a spinning wheel kick to Lee’s head, causing his opponent to do the stanky leg in the cage. Lee ultimately recovered, got Barboza back down where Lee’s most comfortable and continued to dominate, but Barboza’s near fight-ending shot was the highlight of the fight to me.
Where do these two go from here?
Lee put himself in prime position at the top of the lightweight division, considering Conor McGregor is nowhere to be found and former interim champ Tony Ferguson is injured. Champ Nurmagomedov isn’t expected to defend his title until late this year, so if the UFC books Lee against Eddie Alvarez or Dustin Poirier in a title eliminator, don’t color me disappointed whatsoever. By then, Ferguson will hopefully be ready to go and finally square off with the Russian.
(But of course, I’m sure McGregor will show up at the next event at which Lee is a guest fighter, throw a dolly at the fighter bus and injure Lee and the rest of the lightweight division. Because, well, this is MMA and that’s McGregor for you.)
Barboza, on the other hand, needs some time off — a lot of time off, actually. He is coming off back-to-back beatings against two of the best 155-pound fighters on the planet, and if he wants to be the same fighter he was before losing these two straight bouts, he has to be real smart about his eventual comeback.
Don’t pull a Frankie Edgar, Barboza. I really, really, really hope we don’t see Barboza step in on short notice for someone at UFC 224 in Rio de Janeiro next month or something crazy like that. If that happens, I quit MMA. He needs to rest.
When he comes back, I’m totally down for a matchup against Justin Gaethje, who is also coming off two losses and needs to sit out for the majority of the remainder of 2018. Though, telling someone to sit out for a while to rest their brain and then come back and fight Gaethje seems a little contradictory, I have to admit.
Watch now, later, or never?
Lee vs. Barboza, as dominant as it was, was rather entertaining. I’d watch it as soon as possible.
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